My December
by Raven Wings
Summary: *COMPLETE* Songfic. Yaoi. Bit/Brad and Harry/Leena. Don't like, tough cookies. Don't read it. To everyone outside, Brad and Bit appeared to be the perfect couple. When they suddenly break up, it's up to Harry and Leena to set things right! Fluff piece.


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Pairings: Bit/Brad, Harry/Leena

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Archive: Here, and eventually at my site "Beautiful Alone" (http://www.angelfire.com/scifi/rachelpage). If you want it, please e-mail me, and tell me where it's going.

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E-Mail: TARGETER14@AOL.com

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Disclaimer: Zoids is property of...uh, someone. "My December' belongs to Linkin' Park. Please don't sue me, the only valuable thing I have is my action figure collection.

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A/N. My first Zoids fic, first songfic, and my contribution to the far-too-small yaoi fanbase in this section. Though this fic is more shonen ai...If you do not like any of the pairings, don't read. It's simple. Flames will be laughed at, then deleted. Constructive reviews shall be worshipped. 

Also, I was planning on using the Japanese names in this fic, but it felt so strange typing Ballad instead of Brad...however, I did concede to the Japanese version in some of my spelling- i.e. that of Toros and Jaime. Don't comment on these and accuse me of mis-spelling stuff.

Harry and Leena are cute together! Don't flame me for that, either!

Finally, this is a songfic to Linkin' Park's 'My December'. If you haven't heard it before, download it. It's a beautiful song. 

Ok, that's enough from me. Enjoy, and feel free to drop a comment!

~~~~~

There was havoc at the Toros base. Not havoc as in 'things-are-exploding-and-Oh-My-God-we're-all-gonna-die!' It was emotional havoc, that caused tension in the air so thick one could feel it permeating the pores of their skin.

The indestructible couple had been...well, destroyed.

No one was quite sure when Bit and Brad had gotten together, save the two members of the relationship. All anyone outside of the pair could tell them was that one day Jaime had gone to ask Bit about the mysterious stains in the cockpit of his Raynos that Leena _swore_ were from the chocolate mousse she had hidden in the back of the refrigeration unit the previous night. He could already see it in his mind- the mouth with legs had stolen Leena's food, and had hidden in his cockpit, quickly- and as a result, a little sloppily- eating it. Jaime had been all ready to chew the blond teenager out.

The young tactician/Zoid pilot had thoughtlessly walked into Bit's room without knocking, only to find Bit and Brad.

Sleeping.

Entwined around each other.

__

Stark naked.

Stammering a shocked apology to the now awakened pilots and flushing bright red, Jaime had run out of the room. This attracted the attention of Leena, who was stalking her prey. Going to see what had Jaime blushing, she had been greeted by a similar scene. She had yelped in surprise before fainting, which attracted the attention of the passing Dr. Toros...

The two hadn't bothered to hide their relationship from then on. Even stoic fellow warriors who hid the majority of their emotions, like Jack Sisco and the Tasker sisters, would privately marvel at the way the two complemented each other on the battlefield. Everyone could see that they were perfect together, both physically (rather the same way Jaime had discovered them) and spiritually. 

That's why it was such a surprise when the relationship ended.

~~~~

**__**

This is my December

This is my time of the year

__

"Damnit Bit, I just can't do it anymore! I can't...I think we should end it. Now. Before we get too attached to each other."

Sixteen year old Bit Cloud winced as Brad's harsh words ran through his head for the thousandth time. The chill winter wind ruffled his slightly overgrown blonde bangs as he lay back on the metal roof of the Toros base and stared up at one of Zi's moons, the only one that was visible during the cold months. 

He may have been an accomplished warrior, pilot of a legendary Ultimate X, and skilled scrap hunter. But people seemed to forget sometimes that despite all that, Bit was a teenage boy, who had been on his own for a very long time, and was still learning to cope with the world. He had lost his parents at a young age- to what, he did not know. He had never known the emotions he felt around the people at the Toros base before he had been taken in by them.

Despite his cheery exterior, Bit's heart had been as cold as the winds that blew around him. Not in a harmful way of course- it just hadn't been used.

Until Brad, of course.

**__**

This is my December

This is all so clear

Bit finally got it- now that their relationship was over. Now that it felt like the sun had gone out, now that it felt like it had rained for forty days and forty nights, and everything was dead.

He was in _love _with the older teenager.

It was so strange. Now that he was outside the relationship, he could see what the others had viewed. They had obviously seen that Bit was in love with Brad, even when Bit himself hadn't realised it. They had probably assumed that Brad felt the same way. That was why everyone would say that they were perfect for each other, that they _fit_. Dr. Toros, Jaime, Leena, Harry...everyone...obviously hadn't seen the relationship for what it really turned out to be.

It was an ex-Backdraft member who had realised it. A few months ago, while Dr. Toros was indulging and buying more parts so he could play around with Leena's Gunsniper, Bit and Brad had been walking through town together, quietly enjoying just being near one another. The Backdraft member had recognised them, and sneering, made some crack about how 'The two little fuck-buddies had gotten lucky when they beat the Backdraft.'

Brad had broken his nose.

The man was right though.

**__**

This is my December

This is my snow covered heart

Now though...now, Bit didn't care what people like that said. The two members of the Blitz team had heard that slur and more like it everywhere they went, and it had hurt, then. Upon recollection though, up here on the roof in the freezing air- Bit couldn't give a damn. They were right. He and Brad were over. Nothing mattered.

**__**

This is my December

This is me alone

"I'm all alone again." Bit whispered to the night air, feeling the same words pass his mouth for the second time in less than twenty-four hours. Was it only this morning that he had said them to Brad, as the older pilot prepared to move back into his old room?

__

"Bit, we have to end it. I'm a mercenary, for Christ's sake! As soon as I'm offered enough cash, I'll be gone! If we end it now, it won't hurt as much. 

__

Damnit Bit, I just can't do it anymore! I can't...I think we should end it. Now. Before we get too attached to each other."

__

But I'm already attached to you...Bit had wanted to say. Instead, he'd plastered a sickly smile on his face, and drawn the sheets up around his naked body. "I'm all alone again."

Brad stared at Bit for a moment, something flashing in those steel-blue depths. "...Right."

**__**

And I...

Just wish that I didn't feel that there was something I missed

"He's a merc. You knew that, you idiot." Bit berated himself. "You knew it would come to an end. So...why does it hurt so much?"

The desert, bleached white in the light of the moon, didn't provide an answer. Neither did the wind, which stole the words from his chapped lips.

**__**

And I...

Take back all the things I said to make you feel like that

"I bet I latched on to him too tightly." Bit sat up, sighing, and hugged his knees. "Maybe I should have just acted like he was a convenience to me. Maybe we'd still be together. But...that wouldn't have been right, would it?"

**__**

And I...

Just wish that I didn't feel that there was something I missed

And I...

Take back all the things I said to make you feel like that

"Oh gods Brad, I miss you so much." Burying his face in the worn knees of dark red pants, he squeezed his eyes shut. _It's been one damned day, and I miss you. I'm pathetic. I did get to attached to you._

**__**

And I

Give it all away

Just to have somewhere to go to

__

I had a perfectly good life before you, you bastard. I had my truck, a list of contacts, and a stockpile of perfect parts. I could have lived my dream! _And I gave it all up, because of a Zoid, and a blue-eyed guy who caught my eye, the same way metal shining in the desert does._

**__**

Give it all away

To have someone to come home to

__

I gave up my life as Bit Cloud junk-dealer to become Bit Cloud Zoid-pilot. What did I get for it? Pain. An opportunity to yell at myself. 

My dream Zoid.

A home.

A family.

Love.

Would I do it all again?

Damnit. Yes.

~~~~~

**__**

This is my December

These are my snow covered trees

Whenever he needed to think, seventeen year old Brad Hunter would go to the cockpit of his Zoid- previously the Command Wolf, now the Shadow Fox- and sit there in solitude. He loved being high up, seemingly above all the conflict that plagued him on the ground below. It was his ability to rise above his problems and solve them from a different vantage point that made him so cool and collected, and an excellent Zoid warrior. 

One problem though, wouldn't go away. It seemed to haunt him, lingering at the back of his mind. It was one that Brad couldn't rise from.

Bit Cloud.

__

What on Zi possessed me to start a relationship with him! Brad berated himself, for it was he who had started it. _He's loud, a bit air-headed, a scavenger, a bit of a pig..._

He's so alive though.

**__**

This is me pretending

This is all I need

"I don't need him. I don't need anyone." Brad whispered fiercely to the cool air inside the cockpit of the Shadow Fox. "All I need is my Zoid, and my money. That's it. I did the right thing by breaking off our relationship."

__

At least I think I did.

I can't love him! Love is a liability. What if he got hurt in a battle or something? I'd probably be like Leena was over Harry when she realised he had been injured trying to save her in the Royal Cup. I never want to be like that.

__

I don't need anyone.

Yeah. Keep telling yourself that, Hunter...

Sighing, Brad ran a hand through the thick brown hair that traced messy waves down his back. "I would have had to leave someday anyway." He reasoned aloud with himself. He _would _sort out this problem, here, now, in the cockpit of his beloved Zoid. "By ending it now, I saved him from pain later."

Except Bit hadn't even cared. 

__

"Damnit Bit, I just can't do it anymore! I can't...I think we should end it. Now. Before we get too attached to each other."

__

Brad finished the speech he had planned out in his mind, then presented very badly, and looked at Bit for his reaction. 

The sea-green eyes showed no emotion. Neither did the smooth face, tanned from working under the harsh sun's light for years. Then, he smiled. Not the smile of victory he wore after a battle, not the contented smile he wore when working on his Liger, not the soft, satiated smile he wore after a night of making love together, when the room smelt like sex, and he was wrapped in Brad's bare arms. It was- an empty smile. It was the one he had worn when the Blitz team had first stumbled across him, and he had tried to con them in to letting him go.

The smile that had almost convinced Brad there and then that the blonde felt nothing for him. And then, it was followed by those painful words that sealed the conviction.

"I'm all alone again."

He didn't care. He was used to being alone. This was the sixteen year old who had spent the majority of his life alone. Of course he didn't care that Brad had ended their relationship. Gods, how could he have been so stupid! There was no attachment there.

Wasn't this what he had wanted?

"...Right." Brad finally said, agreeing with Bit. And that was that.

**__**

And I...

Just wish that I didn't feel that there was something I missed

"Damnit, I don't want it to be over!" Brad yelled, punching a hard metal panel in frustration. A distant part of his mind was glad the canopy on the Shadow Fox was down. He didn't want people to hear him yelling at his Zoid. After all, he was the calm collected one.

**__**

And I...

Take back all the things I said to make you feel like that

His hand hurt now. The knuckles were raw and blooded, and the whole thing was swelling. It was probably broken, the same way he had broken it after he had punched some Backdraft guy in the face in Romeo city after a cheap shot he'd taken at the relationship between Bit and Brad. Since his first fight when he was twelve years old, Brad had known that the best way to break a hand was to punch someone in the face. Looked like punching a Zoid was fairly quick and easy as well. 

**__**

And I...

Just wish that I didn't feel that there was something I missed

And I...

Take back all the things I said to make you feel like that

Brad laughed, a short and bitter sound. What a stupid thought to be having when you realised you had just let the _one_, that special person, slip away, even if they didn't feel the same.

Maybe something would have happened, over time, and Bit would have come to feel the same way. Now, Brad would never know. Ever since he had become a mercenary, and entered the world of Zoid battles, he had lived by the rule 'No regrets'. Now, he was beginning to see what happened when he didn't listen to his own code. 

**__**

And I

Give it all away

Just to have somewhere to go to

"I hate being a mercenary. I hate wakng up each day of my life wondering if I'm going to be on the other side of the country the next morning." Brad snarled to the air. His Shadow Fox waited quietly in the hanger for him to finish his rant. 

**__**

Give it all away

To have someone to come home to

"I don't want to have to live each day wondering if I'm getting too attached to people, curious to know if I'm about to break someone's heart, only caring if I get paid."

__

I want stability.

"I want _Bit._"

__

And now, I've lost him. 

No regrets. Damn, I screwed that up.

~~~~~

"What's going on between Bit and Brad?"

Leena narrowed her eyes at the holographic three-leveled Zoid strategy game, as she pondered the next move to make. Harry was good. She was better. "They're both being idiots. I wish they'd hurry up, make up, then seal the relationship with a good round of boinking each other silly.

"Leena!" Harry nearly fell off his chair. "My sweet, that's so..."

"True?"

"I was thinking crude. But, true works as well."

Harry and Leena. That was an interesting pair. To all who asked, Harry would proudly say they were dating. Leena would say that they had a truce in place- a truce on what, no one knew. Nobody questioned the fiery red-head though, and privately labeled the pair a couple.

Finally, Leena made up her mind, moving forward a Raynos on the top level, and two Shield Ligers on the second. "I think it was Brad that ended it all. Neither of them will say why though. I don't think they had a fight. So, I've come to the conclusion that they're just being idiot men."

Raising an eyebrow, Harry pondered whether he should point out that _he _was a man, then wisely decided against it. Leena would probably just state that that proved her point. He moved a pair of Saber Tigers closer together, grouping them with a Hellcat. "It's pretty dismal around here though. Your beauty does not suit the dark atmosphere here, my sweet Leena." Grinning at her, he mock-batted his eyelashes. "Ever consider moving in to the luxurious and spacious Champ base?"

Leena leaned over the table and thwapped Harry over the head- not as hard as she once would have though. "Not on your life, buddy. I win." Harry glanced at the board, just in time to see her two Ligers move forward and knock the Saber Tigers out of the game, and the Raynos drop a little holographic bomb on his Hellcat. For a girl whose motto in battles was 'shoot first, ask team allegiance later' she certainly was good at strategy. He looked back up at her, and she winked one purple eye and grinned mockingly. "I've got Jaime as a teacher. Tonight, I am the undisputed champion of Zoid Strategy Version 3!"

Shrugging, Harry grinned back. "I let you win. It wouldn't be gentlemanly of me to defeat such a beautiful woman."

"Why you-!" Before Leena could go on the warpath, Harry quickly changed subjects.

"Are we going to do something about Bit and Brad?"

About to attack, Leena froze, then sat down. "What do you mean?"

"I don't want your beauty to wither in this stifling base, my love." Leena rolled her eyes, and Harry quickly dropped the outrageous comments. Despite what his dress sense implied, he wasn't a stupid man. "They're depressing me. Let's get them back together. It'll be...fun."

Leena raised an eyebrow. "Sure you're not being jealous again over the way my radiant looks attract men from all over Zi, and you're removing all the competition?"

Harry blinked. Bit and Brad's relationship had seemed so solid, it hadn't even occurred to him to think of them as rivals again. "If that thought makes you happy, then yeah."

Mock preening, Leena fluttered her eyes. "Excellent. I'm sick of Bit moping around anyways. He keeps stealing all my food to eat his way through depression. So, what do we do?"

"We could try talking to them." Harry suggested. 

"DIBS ON BIT!" They both yelled at the same time, and the passing Jaime looked at them oddly.

The young almost-couple exchanged glances, then dissolved into peals of laughter. "Ok, ok, who gets stuck talking to the glacier about relationships?" Leena finally asked, wiping away tears of laughter.

"Scissors, paper rocks?" Harry suggested, and Leena's face took on the determined face she got in a battle. 

"You're on!"

"Scissors!"

"Paper!"

"Rock!"

"Damnit!" Leena scowled, then glared at her traitorous hand which was clenched into the rock shape. 

Harry laughed. "Have fun, Leena dear!"

He was about to walk out, when Leena tackled him from behind. They both crashed to the floor, Leena on top of Harry. Before he realised what was going on, she flipped him over, and straddled his chest. A ferocious blush grew on his cheeks as she bent down and kissed him.

A moment later, she straightened. "Now can I have Bit?"

"Uh...uh huh." Harry mumbled, stunned. 

"Great! Have fun with Brad, _Harry dear._"

She was long gone by the time Harry realised what had happened. "Wow...what a woman."

~~~~~

**__**

This is my December

This is my time of the year

"I've always loved winter on Zi." Bit commented to Leena as she took a seat beside him. "Don't know why. Just have."

Leena shivered as the cold wind howled around them. "Damnit Bit, are you insane? We live in a desert, and it's night time. Not only that, it's nighttime, in the desert, in _winter_. It's freezing up here!"

Glancing at her out of the side of his eye, Bit chuckled, a humorless sound. "You shouldn't wear those tank tops and skirts around all the time then. Not that Harry seems to mind."

"Why you-" Leena punched him in the arm. Hard.

"OW!" Bit rubbed his now painfully tingling arm. "What the hell was that for?"

"For being an asshole!"

"What did I do?"

"The question you should be asking is what _haven't_ I done." The violet-eyed girl jabbed him in the arm for emphasis.

Glaring at her, Bit inched away. "Fine then. What haven't I done?"

"Made up with Brad."

Blinking slightly in surprise, Bit turned that statement over in his mind for a moment, before discarding it. "He ended things with me. And all I ever did was get too attached to him."

Leena frowned at him, pale skin looking white in the light of the moon. "What do you mean?"

Bit laughed sadly. "That's why he ended it, you know. Said that he was a mercenary, and he wanted to end it before we got too attached to each other. I guess it makes sense. It was the right move for him to make."

"Oh Bit..." Leena whispered.

Drawing in a deep breath of air, Bit battled with the lump in his throat for a second. "I don't need pity from you."

"What? Pity? I was about to call you an idiot!" 

"Whaaaaaat?!" Bit squawked, eyes widening.

Leena began to punch him in the numb arm again. "I said- I was about to call you an idiot! You can't be so dumb as to have believed what he said! You're the mastermind who has infiltrated my food stashes and pilfered chocolates from them time and time again! You are not a stereotypical blond, despite what you try to make us think- yet you believed him!"

"Stop it!" Bit yelped, finally evading her blows and moving even further away from her. "I don't understand!"

Leena stood up, eyes almost glowing with fury. "A blind man on a dark night can see that he loves you! Everyone can see it, whenever you two are together. Heck, you can see it when you fight together! Brad's just being an idiot as well, with all that mercenary rot. Probably thinks he's saving you from pain later down the track. You should have gone after him! I can't believe you let him walk away, because of some trivial detail."

"But he _is _a mercenary! What if he does leave?" Bit looked morose for a second. "I don't think I could take it."

Sighing in exasperation, Leena slapped her forehead in dismay. It looked like she was going to have to spell it out for him. "Bit Cloud. What does Brad get hired to do?"

Bit stared at her, confused. "You know the answer to this Leena. Fight in Zoid battles."

"Exactly! And for that, he needs....?"

"A Zoid." Comprehension was slowly beginning to dawn on his face.

"And last I checked, the Shadow Fox was registered to-?

"Your dad." Bit stood up. "You're right. We are stupid."

Leena rolled her eyes. "Of course you are! All men are! Brad Hunter is not going _anywhere._ So get your ass down to the hanger this instant and tell him you love him, duh!"

In a surprising gesture, Bit leaned forward and hugged his friend. "Thankyou." he whispered, gratitude shining through his words. "I'll never raid your food again." With that, he swung himself over the edge of the roof, through the open window just below. 

"I'll hold you to that promise, Bit!" Leena yelled afterwards.

~~~~~

**__**

This is my December

This is all so clear

Arms and face streaked with grease, Brad stuck his hand in through a tiny gap on the underside of the Fox, and began to feel around experimentally. He closed his eyes, enhancing his sense of touch. And...there it was. The thin wire that connected the exterior sensors with his cockpit. Snipping it with a pair of wire, Brad began to splice it with a new wire, which was hooked up to new, more powerful sensors he had installed that were compatible with the system he would later download to the Zoid's computer. 

It wasn't a hard chore, but it did require his concentration. Thus, his mind was taken away from the murky thoughts about the young Bit Cloud.

"Uh...Brad?"

"Yeah?" Wrapping the wires firmly around each other, he eased his hands out of the gap, then looked over the edge of the platform he was lying down on. "What do you want Harry?"

"To uh, talk actually." He laughed nervously. "Could you, uh, come down?"

Brad raised an eyebrow, but hit the descend button on the maintenance platform. He and Harry weren't exactly close, so this should be interesting at least. With a final clang, the platform settled onto it's base.

Fingering the absurd fringe on his jacket, Harry seemed to be lost for a second, before hesitantly sitting beside the older youth on the platform. Brad noted with detached interest the dark berry smudges on his mouth, the same colour as the lipgloss Leena favored at the moment. This would probably be about the red-head.

Still toying with the fringe, Harry looked at his shoes. "I uh, wanted to talk to you about Bit."

Brad's eyebrows nearly shot up into his hairline, but he kept his expression cool. "If you wanted to know what's going on between us, it's simple. We're over."

"No, that's not what I wanted to say! I already knew that." Harry shot off his mouth, before realizing what he had said. "Erm, uh, I mean..."

The guy was fumbling as much over this as he had in the days before he had resorted to corny compliments to try and woo Leena. The brunette waited patiently for him to spit it out.

"It is just that uh, we, that is uh, Leena and me, I mean Leena and I..." Harry's voice trailed off, before he blurted out, "You and Bit need to get back together!"

"No." Brad stood up. "Is that all you wanted to say?" 

"No! I mean, er...I think we should talk about it?"

Poor guy. Leena the psychotic had probably put him up to it. With a sigh, Brad sat down again. "Talk."

Harry gathered up his confidence. "Well, you and Bit seemed to work really well together...you need to stop this fight!"

"It's over." Brad stood up again. "That's all there is to it."

Harry's eyes narrowed to green slits. "Brad Hunter, sit down! We're. Not. Finished." It was like he was channeling Leena. The shocked Brad sat down- _again._

"I am not a stupid man. As one who knows what love is, after pursuing my sweet Leena for so long, I have come to recognize it. I see it whenever you look at Bit. Why is it over between you?"

One hand fisted around the good-luck talisman that hung around his neck. "I'm a _mercenary_, Harry. I'll have to leave someday. I'd only hurt him."

"...Isn't the Shadow Fox registered to Dr. Toros?" 

"Heh." Brad inclined his head. "Sure is. I'm gonna buy it off him. Where do you think all my prize money has been going?"

Harry leaned back and rested on his elbows, nervousness forgotten. "Why? Do you want to leave the Blitz team- and Bit- behind? It sure sounds like you're looking for an excuse."

Blinking for a second, Brad pondered this startling revelation. "Why would I do something like that? Why am I even asking you? I'm leaving..."

"Brad, wait!" Sitting bolt upright, Harry grabbed his arm just beneath one of the golden bands tattooed on to his skin. "How did Bit react when you said you were going to leave him because you're a mercenary?"

Smiling bitterly, the blue-eyed man tried hard to ignore the traitorous burning in his eyes. "He didn't care." His voice rasped more than he would have liked, but Harry didn't seem to notice. "He said 'I'm all alone again' and smiled. It was good that I ended it."

Nodding thoughtfully, Harry let go of Brad's arm. "I've just figured you two out. And you're both thicker than the Panser's shell. You were testing him. You wanted to see if Bit felt the way for you that you did for him."

Brad shook his head. "That's stupid. And even if it was true, Bit failed anyway. He didn't care, remember?"

"You really are an idiot." Harry seemed to have forgotten that he was currently insulting someone much bigger, who could beat the snot out of him without breaking a sweat. Typical Harry, putting his foot in his mouth. "Bit's a fool, who probably had designs on my dear Leena before you, but he's essentially a good person. If he thought that you didn't want him anymore, don't you think that he would do what he thought was best for _you_? Especially if he really cared for you?- which, by the way, I know he does."

"So to show he cared...Bit pretended that he didn't." Brad said doubtfully. "I dunno Harry, that's pretty far-fetched."

"It's true. And what have you got to lose by asking his forgiveness?" Harry asked quietly. "You've already lost the most valuable thing you'll ever own. Might as well try to get it back."

Brad laughed ruefully, and toyed with the stone on his talisman. "Harry, I don't think you'll ever cease to surprise me." Before Harry could demand an explanation of what he meant by that, Brad continued. "You know...I think I'm gonna go get some air. Think things out."

"And if you happen to run into Bit along the way...?" The younger teen prompted.

Pulling on the sleeveless jacket he had shed while working on his Zoid, Brad sighed. "I don't think he'll ever forgive me."

Harry grinned. "If he doesn't, keep trying. I did, and look where it's gotten me."

Making a mental note _never _to become like that, Brad smiled weakly. "Uh, yeah. Thanks for the advice."

~~~~~

**__**

Give it all away

Just to have somewhere to go to 

__

Where would Brad be? Bit considered as he halted his run through the base. After all, it was no good running if you didn't know where to go. Up ahead, Jaime and Dr. Toros exited the Control Room, deep in discussion over something. "Hey, Doc! Jaime! Wait up!"

The two paused, turning to face him inquisitively. "Have either of you seen Brad?"

"Finally gonna make up with him, eh?" Dr. Toros asked, winking at him knowingly, and Bit felt his cheeks start to burn.

Jaime glared at the slightly mad scientist. "You know, some of us are still young. We'd rather our innocent minds weren't tainted too early in our lives."

Dr. Toros blinked at him. "Your room is right next door to Bit's. How innocent can you be?" While Jaime growled in annoyance, the man affectionately nicknamed 'Doc' turned his attention back to Bit. "I think I saw him in the hanger working on the Shadow Fox. Don't stay up too late." This was accompanied by another knowing wink. "We have a Zoid battle tomorrow."

Normally not a shy person, Bit could feel himself wanting to turn into a puddle on the floor. One does _not _want to hear sexual innuendo coming from their employer. Especially an employer who was father to one of your closest friends. "Thanks Doc, see ya." He blurted out, and ran off.

__

Finally, know where to go! Well, Bit Cloud, it's time to lay everything on the line, and beg him to take you back. If he knocks me back, I'll...

I won't think about it. Please, please, please Brad, don't knock me back.

~~~~~

**__**

Give it all away

To have someone to come home to

__

Where the heck is he?! Brad shouted internally as he tried to stay calm and wander down the hallway from Bit's empty room. _I just came from the hanger, so he's not there talking to Liger. Where would I go if I was in his position?_

I'd go up high. To the Shadow Fox. But he's not in the Liger. So...the roof perhaps? Might as well give it a go.

~~~~~

**__**

Give it all away

Just to have somewhere to go to

"Damnit, where is he!" both Bit and Brad yelled from opposite sides of the Toros base. Dejected, the two slowly began to walk back to their respective 'thinking nooks', all to willing to give up and move on with their painful lives- and save their pride, which was in danger of being injured, should either be rejected. Heads down and lost in thought as they made their way down the main corridor, neither realised the other was there until they were mere inches away from one another.

They stopped. Slowly looked up.

Bit was the first to react, green eyes lighting up with a strange hope. "Brad!" he yelped, then began to babble. "I don't want us to not be together! I didn't even realize it until it was over between us, but I think I may be in love with you, and I'm sick of not talking to you, and you probably don't feel the same way, and I'm looking like an idiot, but I love you, but the Shadow Fox is registered to the Doc, so you can't leave, and we don't have to break up 'cause you're a mercenary, which is great 'cause I _know _I love you know, and Leena would have kicked my ass if I didn't say anything and try to...to..." he paused, gasping for air, then grinned sheepishly. "I've lost my train of thought. Uh, did you happen to get any of that?"

Steel-blue eyes slightly widened, Brad tried to assimilate everything that Bit had just rambled off. Harry was right. Bit really did care. Subconsciously, had he been testing the blond when he proposed a split between them the way the wealthy youth said? It was looking highly likely that this was the case, Brad decided.

If Bit had been a girl, he probably would have been a hopeless romantic. It was exactly his style to give a fast-paced confession of love at the most available location, regardless of who may have been around. Brad, however, was not one for verbal and public declarations of anything. He merely stepped forward, and wrapped his arms around Bit. Later that night, he would tell Bit exactly how he felt. But not here, not in a hallway. Bit knew exactly what Brad was like, and didn't question him, merely hugging Brad back. 

"_SUGOI!_"[1] A delighted yell echoed down the hallway. It was Leena, dragging Harry along behind her. "Look Harry, I told you it would work." 

"Do you mind?! We're having a _moment_!" Bit yelled back at her, voice muffled as his head was buried in the taller Brad's chest. "Rack off, Leena!"

Leena blinked. "Ooh! Sorry. Come on, Harry. I wanna totally annihilate you at Zoid Strategy again. Bwahahaha!"

Her beaux's cry of "Noooooo!" echoed down the hallway, slowly getting fainter as the two moved away.

~~~~~~

Later that night, once again wrapped around each other in the warm dark of Bit's room, Bit stirred from the half-sleep of contentment he had slipped in to. "Brad?"

"Hmm?"

"If you owned the Shadow Fox- if you bought if off Doc or something- do you think you'd leave to be a mercenary again?"

Opening his eyes, Brad considered this, inching a little closer to the heat given off by the bare Bit. "You know what? I don't think so."

"That's good." Yawning, Bit slung one arm over Brad's waist.

Brad continued. "After all, the Blitz team is in the S Class. The pay is fantastic. And the Doc's compulsion with experimenting on Zoids means that my Fox gets some pretty cool upgrades for a low price. I don't think I'd get a better deal anywhere else."

"Brad!" Bit yelped. "I'm being serious for once!"

"Heh. I know." Soothingly, Brad kissed him on the forehead, but didn't apologize.

"Hmph." Bit grumbled. "Really, are you going to give up being a mercenary?"

**__**

Give it all away

__

Would I give it up?

**__**

To have someone to come home to

"Yeah. I don't think being a mercenary could give me any more than I already have."

~~~~~

[1] Sugoi- Japanese for 'great'. It was easier to invisige Leena/Rinon saying this than 'Great!' or 'Cute!'

Ok, that's it! Like it? Love it? Hate it? Think I should return to slowly infiltrating the Gundam and Weiss Kreuz fandoms? I know, it was kinda plotless...sorry. -_- Anyways, feel free to review! (hint, hint) If you leave your e-mail address, I'll try hard to find the time to e-mail you and thank you personally.


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